IN CONVERSATION WITH KIERON MOORE

interview by JANA LETONJA

Kieron Moore’s path to acting has been shaped as much by introspection as by intensity. A poet from the age of ten and a competitive boxer for over a decade, he has long balanced physical discipline with emotional depth. That duality now defines his work on screen, from early acclaimed short films to major series including ‘The Sandman’, ‘Masters of the Air’, and ‘Vampire Academy’. Most recently, he lead ‘Code of Silence’ and starred in Netflix’s ‘Boots’, while his debut feature ‘Blue Film’ continues its festival run. An artist equally devoted to language, image, and performance, Kieron is entering a defining chapter, one rooted in vulnerability, craft, and a lifelong devotion to storytelling.

You’ve described poetry as something as essential to you as breathing. What did writng give you as a child that nothing else could?

Writing has always given me an element of control over my life, and a secrecy. Something private. Something just for me. A safe place to exercise my imagination, but also to improve my acceptance and understanding of the world around me, and everything in it. I think it’s important to understand our own perspective on things and with that challenge it, so we can truly appreciate and try to connect with other ways of seeing the world.

Writing has also given me a comfort when it comes to failure, and how it doesn’t really exist. When I see the world, when I feel things, my natural inclination is to unpick them and write them down. Some writers say it’s a crime to try to describe the world and how it is limiting, but I guess that is where I see opportunity for growth and humility. When I set out to write a poem, or a journal entry, or even a birthday card, I know I’m going to fail. I love words so much because they represent effort, but I know that effort to explain a feeling will inevitably fail. Words will never do justice, but they are a valiant display of care and effort. I don’t choose to write, it is essential to my well being. My clarity. 

Even as a child, I think I was aware of that. The importance of words, what we say and do. The effect we have on people. But also the need to decompress, to get whatever is bubbling inside of us, out.

coat DANIEL SIMMONS
shirt and trousers FENDI
gloves DENTS GLOVES
briefcase GLOBETROTTER

You spent twelve years as a competitive boxer while privately writing poetry. How did those two worlds coexist inside you?

It’s only in my later life I’ve really examined it. I guess it strikes as a conflict. Two different worlds from an outside view. But to me, they went hand in hand. They were my passions and my vocation. They were just who I was and the life I lived, they seemed normal to me. They were all I knew. They are both lonely activities. Me vs. myself. Me vs. the page. The difference being what armours my hand. In the ring, it was boxing gloves. In my writings, it was a pen. The obstacle was always the same, myself. Both boxing and poetry can be equally as violent, but also equally as peaceful. You have a goal, and it is to find out the truth about yourself. 

I must admit there was an allure of contradiction to it all, one that I saw in my dad. A tough, boxing man. But poetry leaked from him in private, and I was fascinated by that from a young age. To appear so war ready and closed off, yet having these pools of passionate delicacy underneath. I’m still in awe of that. 

coat DIESEL
wings COSTUME STUDIO

Was there a specific moment when you realised acting could hold both the physical and emotional intensity you were searching for? 

Immediately, my first audition for acting class. Manchester School of Acting, where I applied for once a week night-time classes to attend after work. After my first audition, in a room full of strangers with the same aspiration as me. I remember clearly the intoxication, it was so profound and terrifying. My walk to my seat after I had finished my read, sitting there until the class finished and until I got home, just thoroughly ignited. And alive. I had never felt that alive, nor that comfortable in my anxiety and nervousness. For the first time in my life, my fear felt empowering, and on my side. It felt useful. I felt useful. Like everything inside me had a place to go. I have chased that dragon since, and I am fortunate enough to still get that feeling every singe time I get the opportunity to act. I can’t fathom how I didn’t have it in my life prior to that time.

full look VALENTINO

How did your background in boxing shape the way you approach discipline, risk, and presence as an actor?

I’ve said this a few times, but failure at a dream is the best thing boxing gave me. From five years old, the world around me had decided and believed I was going to be a boxer. When I gave up in my early twenties, I had accepted something, failure. I had quit at something. And that weighs heavy on the soul, and I knew when I committed to something again, I would not taste that poison again.

So, how has boxing shaped me? I’d like to think fearlessly. At least that is what I strive for. Conviction. No stone unturned. Boxing, and my parents, engraved an attitude into me that I owe a lot of my mentality to. I’m aware I’m a pretty intense person, but it’s just passion, and immense curiosity. It probably leaves a distaste in some who don’t share that fizz. But I’m just ravenous for growth, for understanding and stretching my potential. I highlighted some similarities between boxing and writing earlier, and they apply to acting too, and the similarities make all the difference.

But, there is something with boxing you can’t get with acting, and it’s linear progression. You train hard, you get better, you win, you climb the rankings. Albeit that is a huge generalisation, but it’s correct in the broad sense. You don’t really have that simplicity in acting. Life is the training, the world is the stage. Effort doesn’t mean success. But one thing I have transferred is my complete surrender. The obstacle is always myself and my ideas, and that is something I can overcome, a realistic goal. There is no winning and losing in acting. The competitor in me struggles with that at times, but there is something more beautiful, collaboration. And the only way I know how to try and be the best collaborator I can be has come from boxing, leading with my heart. In all the ways and metaphors that can be derived from that. Love, drive, grit, determination, openness. In the end, with acting, the doing is the prize. The prep, the performance, all of it. It is a dream come true for me. 

In the end, as cliche as it is, there is no risk. There is only the journey. There is only the story. Which is convenient as an actor, because all I want to do is tell stories.

jacket, shirt & trousers DOLCE & GABBANA
gloves DENTS GLOVES

How do you prepare emotionally for roles that require stillness and vulnerability rather than overt intensity?

The process for me changes with each character. Their demands and needs mould my approach. Different characters require different things. But it always starts with the script. And imagination. You have to be brave enough to have an opinion. I sieve through ideas, but I never make choices. How can you find your way if you have decided the route? I guess I’m preparing myself not to act, but to be, to exist. I’m not playing characters. In my preparation, I’m trying to create an existence, I’m trying to play a real person. Like writing, I’m accepting failure before I even begin, but striving anyway.

A lot of performance for me is just trust. Listening. Truly being susceptible to the environment around you, and the people in it. I try to bring something to life, but in the end, the character is created by the audience. And they are only as complete and elevated as the actors in front of me will permit. It is an exchange. We’re playing make believe, and the only way to make people believe is to encourage them to accept something as truth. So, I seek the truth in all my characters.

Life informs you. I read a lot of books and I think about how writers make me feel. I watch performances and question why I was moved in certain ways. And I people watch a lot, out and about. Human beings fascinate me in their peculiarities and their habits. Truthfully, I’m just a thief. I see, I steal and I incorporate, if it seems appropriate for the character. 

I rely heavily on the prep I do, then I throw it all away. I try not think when I hear action. I just let my understanding of the character guide me and hope it translates. It just highlights that word, trust. Trust of the script. Trust in your collaborators. And trust of myself.

jacket and shorts WOOYOUNGMI
shirt and bow tie polo RALPH LAUREN
trousers MAISON MARGIELA
shoes MITHRIDATE

You’ve said acting has deepened your understanding of your own emotions. Has any role changed the way you see yourself?

Every one of them changes me in some way. They each guide me in what not to be or how to be better. By the end of every job, I have discovered something new about myself that I either want to work on and discard, or better, have found positive and useful in my own life that I can incorporate into my being. Through acting, I get to test out my own design and things I would never do as Kieron, within the safety of no consequence, other than being misunderstood or it not resonating.

One thing I believe is you can’t play similarities. If you have something similar to your character, you don’t need to push it or lean on it in any way. It’s just there. It’s the differences I seek. They are active, I can pursue them and do something with them as they are a reach away from Kieron. By default, in searching for them differences, be it in attitude, reaction, beliefs, environment, emotional intelligence, speech pattern, lies a mirror. An opportunity to ask myself why I am not like that. When I look at a character, I am looking at myself. Coming out the other side more aware and informed, change is inevitable. And it’s truly one of the best parts of it all. I get an opportunity to grow, constantly. How amazing is that?

On a surface level, there is also a sense of pride that comes with the process. You get to see what you’re made of and test your own limitations. You get to ask yourself “Can I do that? Do I have it in me?” And unlike somethings in life, you get an answer.

full look SAINT LAURENT BY ANTHONY VACCARELLO

Language clearly matters deeply to you. How does your love of writers like Sartre, John Donne, and Anaïs Nin influence your performances?

I think everything I do ties into the craft. I just love acting, so all my pastimes efficiently benefit my ambitions. In the end, everything influences performance. 

I’m always reading. It’s a pleasure of mine, but it comes with great reward. A lot of people talk about the empathy good novels bring. And they do, along with an onslaught of other emotional benefits. But I guess when I read good writing, they are doing what I try to do. They are creating a person and inviting me to see their world, to understand them, to be challenged by them. And they do it all with letters. It’s quite motivating, it instils me with sense of achievability. If they can write a character so well, surely I can embody one.

I am also drawn to writers who unpick and explain human complexities so simply. Where you go “I wish I wrote that” or  “That’s exactly how I feel, if only I could have found the words”. Good writers do a lot of the observational work for me. They give me the ingredients I need to try and flesh out a character. Books are like a comprehension test. Devouring information. Creating an internal world. Good writers have given me an opinion on what I find to be good writing, or interesting characters. They have shaped my imagination.

coat MAISON MARGIELA
suit HERON’S GHYLL
shirt KENZO
sunglasses JIMMY CHOO

You kept your poetry private for most of your life—what gave you the courage to begin sharing it publicly?

It’s still something I am torn by. People keep telling me it’s vulnerable, but I just find it honest. All these words and feelings are in me. What else am I supposed to do with them other than express them. Sometimes I tell myself they are just for me, but I remember all the poems and writings that have inspired me, who and where would I be if them authors decided not to share their work.

Now more than ever, I think the world needs connection. Real connection. I remember Ethan Hawke saying in an interview that people who don’t like poetry haven’t needed it yet. I think at some point, it finds it’s way to us, and we find the people who need it. It’s so rewarding that people have connected with my performances, maybe they’ll connect with my words too.

Your debut feature ‘Blue Film’ is nearing release. What does it mean to you to step into the world of feature films?

Invigorating. It’s a different medium and I’m hungry for more feature film opportunities. I love acting anywhere, be it TV show sets, acting class or in hotel rooms doing self tapes. But the movies is where I want to be. There’s something so special about that fragment of time to create a world, giving yourself to it, then giving it away. 

Also, just the closeness. The sheer size of a movie screen allows you to really enter into a performance. I’d like to believe I’m an actor with subtlety. My emotions live in my eyes. I can only put that to the test for real on a big screen, so let’s see if I have the ability.

And though watching my performances back has become increasingly terrifying to me, I do just want to watch myself in a movie theatre at least once with my parents. The movie theatre is my garden of Eden. It’s my favourite space, and it has been since I was a kid. It’s my favourite activity, my favourite thing to do alone, other than diving into a good book. The thought of sitting in a movie theatre to see my work makes me pretty emotional. Like watching my dreams in real time. Brando said people go to the movies to live out their fantasies. I’ll actually get to watch myself doing that if this career keeps being so kind to me, and I just keep trying.

I actually just wrapped on my second feature so it seems my luck continues, at least for now. Hopefully, it will release this year, it’s such a different character to my one in ‘Blue Film’, so I’m really looking forward to the contrast. Also, I got to do it with such a wonderful cast, including Jason Isaacs, which was such a pinch me moment, getting to work with someone I grew up watching, who I’ve idolised. The little Kieron in me was dumfounded every day on set. Just so surreal, I can’t believe I get to do what I do. What a life. I loved playing my character so much, I can’t wait for audiences to meet Eric. And I can’t wait to tell all my family I got to do amazing sequences with the man behind ‘Lucius Malfoy’.

I think it’s very easy to see how lucky I feel, and how much gratitude I have. None of it is lost on me. I am ready with open arms for whatever this career has in store for me, but I do hope it’s more features. And more roles that scare me.

full look PRADA

Photography is another important outlet for you. What do you look for when you’re trying to “capture time” through an image?

The moment in-between, that’s what I search for. My main photography is polaroids, I like the inability to perfect it. It’s a snap of right now and it’ll turn out as it is meant to, and it will be perfect, usually because it is imperfect. But it’s real. 

I have albums from every job which I look back at when I’m feeling sentimental, and I aim to continue that habit. There’s some element of ownership in them too. The polaroids reflect the moments I get to have on set, in my life, the way I get to look at the people who have added so much to my experience. They’re my memories and I get to hold them in my hand. I get to recall, fondly, the exact moment it was taken, whilst I’m flooded with everything else that happened that day. It’s an extension of my journal in a way, visual catalysts and proof. Proof of an existence and a diary of chasing my dream. Proof that it really happened and is happening. 

The work I do belongs to the audience, but the moments between, they belong to me. They are mine. And I cherish them.

jacket and shorts WOOYOUNGMI
shirt and bow tie POLO RALPH LAUREN
trousers MAISON MARGIELA
shoes MITHRIDATE

What kind of stories are you most drawn to telling as your career evolves?

This is such an impossible question. I’m drawn to everything. I want challenges. I want to dive in to as many characters I can and see how much is in me, how far I can go. I’m drawn to complexities and things that scare me more than anything. I like that unsureness. 

Let’s see what comes. In my fantasy, I would love to look back on my body of work one day and go “Wow, they were all so different”. I want to have range. I don’t know where I fit, because I am so transfixed on moulding and transforming. I want to play differences, to not play Kieron. I’ll always lend myself to the characters in ways, and shades of me will stain them, but the further apart, the better.

Sometimes, thinking about what I want feels quite limiting. My career has unfolded in ways I did not foresee. Not even for better or worse, just different. If I had set out with clear, stubborn incentives, who knows all the wonderful things I would have denied. But I have to say, acting is hard. The industry is swimming with incredible performers. I feel lucky just to be working. I believe in my ability to make any character substantial. I will give it everything I have. All I can do is stay prepared and stay open ,and trust that the right opportunities will find me. There’s that word again, trust.

beret and shirt MAISON MARGIELA
shirt worn as bow POLO RAPH LAUREN

Looking ahead, what do you hope audiences understand about you, not just as an actor, but as an artist?

I guess there’s a million ways we hope to be perceived, but simply this that with every fibre of my being, I want to be a great artist, whatever that even means. But what is more important, and will always be, is that I want to be a good person. And in both them things, I am trying.

TEAM CREDITS:
talent KIERON MOORE
photography KOSMAS PAVLOS
styling MICHAEL MILLER
grooming BRADY LEA
photography assistant LUKE JOHNSON
post production ALEXANDRA HEINDL
styling assistant LIV MORTON
editor TIMI LETONJA
interview JANA LETONJA
cover design ARTHUR ROELOFFZEN